this morning on "early today," senate hopeful richard murdock makes a controversial statement about race and god's intentions that mitt romney quickly distances himself from. sprint for the white house. the candidates hit the swing states hard as polls begin to shift. and the need for speed. driving 85 miles per hour in the u.s. starting today. it's perfectly legal. we'll tell you where. captions paid for by nbc-universal television well, good morning. i'm lynn berry. the romney campaign could be waking up to a brand new political headache as yet another republican candidate makes explosive comments about rape two months after the controversy over todd akin's

legitimate rape remark. this time it was during a u.s. senate debate in indiana last night. richard murdock and his opponents were asked about abortion when murdock said this. >> i believe that life begins at conception. the only exception i have for -- to have an abortion is in that case of the life of the mother. i just -- i struggled with it myself for a long time, but i came to realize life is that gift from god and i think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that god intended to happen. >> and after the debate murdock told a news conference he was only trying to explain his view that god creates life. >> does that -- are you trying to suggest that somehow i think god ordained or preordained rape? no, i don't believe that. anyone who would suggest that, that's a sick and twisted -- no. no. that's not even close to what i said. >> all right. this all matters to the romney team because those comments come just one day after the murdock campaign began running a new ad

featuring governor romney. >> there's so much at stake. i hope you'll join me in supporting richard murdock for u.s. senate. >> late last night the romney campaign issued this statement reading governor romney disagrees with richard murdock's comments and they do not reflect his views. dnc chair debbie wasserman schultz slammed the results as outrageous and demeaning. elsewhere, for the first time since the party conventions in august governor romney has a slight lead over president obama. the latest washington post abc poll of likely voters showed romney ahead of the president 49% to 48%. that was only after rounding off the decimal points and since the numbers are within the margin of error, the two candidates are in a virtual tie. well, the time to press the flesh is getting short for the candidates as they try to lock in every last vote before november 6th. nbc's tracie potts has the

details for us from washington. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. they are really focusing on the swing states in the final two weeks before the campaign. governor romney and paul ryan in colorado at a rally there talking about why they feel they're close to winning this election. the governor saying those debates super charged his campaign. he's in a virtual tie now in all the major polls. he said the president is slipping. today governor romney will be in nevada, in reno, cedar rapids, and romney in tampa, lakeland and winter park, florida, making three stops there. paul ryan will be in cleveland, ohio. meantime a 20-page booklet outlining what he says is his plan for the next four years, 3.5 million copies. the president said at this event in ohio with vice president biden yesterday that the math in his plan adds up. he's got eight different states

he's hitting in the next three days. he'll be today in iowa, colorado, california for a quick stop to take the leno show and nevada. vice president biden staying in ohio for more campaigning there. >> tracie potts for us in washington. thank you. elsewhere, the white house and the state department were advised that an islamic militant group was behind the benghazi attack just two hours after that assault began. this information is according to a report by the reuters news agency. they managed to obtain e-mails that described the attack as it was still underway. the white house and the state department have not commented yet on those e-mails. and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. we're going to begin in texas where the fast and furious can get their fix on the nation's speediest roadway. starting today driving 85 miles per hour on parts of highway 130 is legal. the new 40-mile toll road makes

the trip between austin and san antonio much faster. safety experts predict more accidents and deaths. a driver used the heimlich maneuver to stop a student from choking to death. the teen couldn't breathe after accidentally swallowing a plastic ice cube. after rescuing the boy, the driver lectured the kids on why there's no drinking or eating on the school bus. lesson learned. finally officials at the san diego zoo are looking for a little help from you guys. the public is being asked to name this giant panda cub born 12 weeks ago. here is the list of potential names. it's been whittled down from 7,000 to six. miracle, raindrop, biggs ocean or big sea, little gift, brave son or water dragon. online voting is open until october 30th. all right, now let's get a check of your wednesday weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins who has the weather channel forecast. good morning, bill.

>> my submission of super villain didn't happen got rejected. maybe if it was just like super lyn. tropical storm sandy has the chance of becoming a hurricane hitting jamaica today and cuba as we go throughout tonight and then near florida by the time we get to friday. the storm has intensified. it's a big, red, spinning blob on the map. this has all the indications of being a significant impact storm in his life span. it may not just be jamaica and cuba. the bahamas will be hit by a strong tropical storm. then florida gets brushed. then it will be a question of what happens on the east coast. anyone traveling sunday, monday, tuesday from north carolina to new england, it has the potential to curve out and bring it back towards new england next week. in the west we're still dealing with hit and miss rain showers.

san francisco getting it right now and up near interstate 80, sacramento to tahoe and outside of reno. this is a pretty big storm. it continues to spin. the upper level low off the washington coastline. it's dragging the cold air down through idaho into areas of utah. the temperatures have dropped significantly through the inner mountain west and showers continue for o towards los angeles and, of course, san diego and arizona. tomorrow, i think most people can leave the umbrellas at home in the west. breaking news. >> all right. al left, alert. bill, thanks so much. coming up, disturbing new details about the murder of a 12-year-old girl and the fallout from massive solar flare. yourer li morning headlines are

straight ahead. plus the obama blueprint for hunting terrorists. it's called the disposition matrix. details straight ahead. you're watching "early today."

stories making news this morning. today's "washington post" reports the obama administration is developing a new way of pursuing terrorists. the disposition matrix contains terror suspects names laid out against resources available to track them down. it's designed to map out ways to reach suspects beyond the reach of unmanned drones. colorado's secretary of state says 300 more suspected non-citizens have been found on the state's voter rolls. the names were among the more than 3,900 people who have received letters in august questioning their citizenship. a former cia officer faces 2 1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to leaking the name of a covert officer to a reporter.

in 2007 john kiriakou was the first official to go public about the government's use of water boarding as an interrogation technique. police in south jersey have said two boys have been arrested for luring a girl and strangling her. the strangulated body of autumn pasquale was found stuffed in a recycling bin. the suspect's mother helped crack the case after posting on her son's facebook account. nasa says the sun unleashed an intense solar flair monday night which caused a brief radio blackout. you may have heard the expression there's nothing cleaner than a dog's mouth. not so much apparently. a new study finds more than 70% of dogs' mouths contain disease causing bacteria that can lead to gum disease and other ailments in humans. all right. in health, massachusetts officials have revealed that the

pharmacy believed to be responsible for the meningitis outbreak had serious health and safety violations. inspectors found that the new england compounding center shipped medicine before getting back the results of its sterilization testing. visible fungus was also found in steroids made by the company. the cdc has confirmed 308 cases of meningitis in 17 states and 23 deaths. the state has permanently revoked the facility's license. >> announcer: early today health is brought to you by vagisil ph balanced wash. and here's how wall street's going to kick off the day. the dow closed at 13,102 after sinking 243 points tuesday. the s&p dropped 20. the nasdaq fell 26. taking a look at overseas trading today, in tokyo the nikkei was down 59 points but in hong kong the hang seng gained 66. corporate caution hit wall street hard tuesday and could

sink stocks again today. after the bell dow chemical released earnings two days early and said it's slashing 2400 jobs and closing about 20 manufacturing plants to help save precious cash. on the upside, facebook's revenue jumped 32% sending shares higher in late trade. apple finally unveiled its ipad mini yesterday. the new handheld will start at $329. well, if you've swiped your credit card at barnes & noble recently, you may want to change your pin number. the company says a security breach in its pin pads last month may have compromised customers' information. a new study finds the gender pay gap is still dogging women, including recent college grads who now earn on average 82% of their male peers. kiplinger's has ranked yale as the number one value of 100 of the nation's private colleges and universities. rice and princeton rounded out

the top three. be careful driving. new figures from the insurance information institute show deer collisions on the rise. claims are up almost 8% in the last four years costing over $4 billion in damage. new york city's central park just got its biggest donation ever. $100 million from hedge fund billionaire john paulson. barney's is under fire for its electric holiday ad campaign featuring a very skinny mini mouse. critics are upset the usually round mouse is runway thin in a short film where she fantasizes she's in a paris fashion show. and the national retail federation estimates americans will spend 370 million bucks on costumes this halloween, unreal, for their pets. the top picks, pumpkins, devils, and hot dogs. coming up, eva longoria splits from her jet-setting man, ozzie's millions, and is the

world's fastest human making a challenge that even he can't deliver on? sports headlines are straight ahead. this warm air is not here to stay. starting tomorrow the cold plunge from canada begins. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

well, in sports, very exciting. the world series begins tonight. the giants worked out on their

home field yesterday and the tigers got their chance in the batting cage at the at&t park. the pitching match-up features two former cy young award winners. justin verlander for detroit and barry zito for the giants. >> a lot of the circumstances swirling around, you know, they should not be a factor. sometimes they are, but it's my job to focus on what's important. >> just being able to take it in a little more, having experience under my belt and having been in some situations like this allows me not to be so wide-eyed and be able to be a little bit calmer and just kind of take things in. >> game one starts tonight 8:00 p.m. eastern time. the miami marlins have a hot new stadium, a franchise record $93 million payroll and now a job opening for a new manager. yesterday they fired ozzie guillen after one season. the reasons, a terrible record and because of his early comments admiring fidel castro which didn't sit well with fans. the marlins still owe him over 7 million bucks.

let's go over to the nba where lebron james takes matters into his own hands as the heat win their third straight preseason game, 98-92. in chicago the bulls got off to a quick start for a 94-89 win over the oklahoma city thunder. and finally the world's fastest man, you know that guy, olympic champion sprinter usain bolt. he did his trademark lightening bolt post in front of the famed statue christ the redeemer high above reoh degentleman niro in brazil. the home of the next summer olympic games. he's sure to do well. coming up, a halloween fright comes early for unsuspecting families in england, plus, the third presidential debate with an auto tune twist that is sure to make you laugh. you're watching "early today."

well, welcome back. we're watching the storm system off the coast still spinning. we'll keep showers in the forecast today. the storm system is finally going to be on the move. still dry in areas of the southwest. tomorrow, as i mentioned, temperatures will still be on the cool side, only the low 50s in the northwest. at least we get rid of a lot of moisture as it heads into the inner mountain west. better news for the west coast after three or four days of rain. for some entertainment news. if you haven't already figured it out it is good to be the

child of an a list celebrity. brad and angelina jolie's kids are joining them in the cast of "maleficent." why do i have trouble saying that? >> they purposely came up with that. >> the "sleeping beauty" spinoff marks the first on screen roles for all three kids. 37-year-old eva longoria and 25-year-old mark sanchez are history after just three months. a source close to the actress tells the "new york daily news" their age difference and her hollywood lifestyle were to blame. >> so she dumped him? >> that's what it sounds like. >> families expecting to see "madagascar 3" at a theater in england got an unexpected fright when "paranormal activity 4" started playing. theater owners blame a technical error. not a great one, guys. one mom said the first two

minutes which had a corpse flung at the camera it scarred her kids for life. if you missed the third and final presidential debate on monday, there's a new edited version of the contest that has gone viral. it comes from the gregory brothers who added a little humor and auto tune to the foreign policy discussion. >> against china for violating trade rules. ♪ we are going to insist that china plays by the same rules ♪ ♪ they're hacking into our computers, counterfeiting our goods ♪ ♪ china is a potential partner ♪ we want to trade with them, but you need to play by the rules ♪ >> you always have a good laugh with that. politics can be funny. i'm lynn berry, this is just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

a 10-year-old boy in ireland stumbled on to an amazing discovery. walking along the beach near his home the boy found a sprite bottle in the sand. the amazing part the bottle contained a note written in french dated in 2004. two girls wrote their e-mail on the note and then sent it from quebec, that's 2,485 miles away. the boy's response to the find, oh, my god, i'm going to be famous. this is a good start. in poland, one house will make even the most cramped spots seem roomy. squeezed between two apartment blocks the world's narrowest house has opened its doors to the first of a series of invited residents at about 47 inches at its widest point and 28 inches at its narrowest, the structure yields a tiny bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. familiar in new york city. and finally in england, one

little girl has really set the bar high for her peers. the precocious 7-year-old is being compared to the likes of mozart after composing her own opera. that's right. she says parts of the melody have been playing in her head since she was 3 years old. that's when her parents first gave her a violin. they knew their daughter was gifted when she then learned complex pieces in less than a year. if that doesn't make you feel bad. any talented artists in the karins' household? little william, has he mastered it yet? >> he can hit a lot of things very hard. >> those pots and pans? >> yes, exactly. you know. with a spatula. it's time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. kennedy cousin michael skakel is due in court for a parole hearing. a nephew of ethel kennedy is serving 20 years to life for fatally beating martha m

ofrnltsxley with a golf club in greenwich, connecticut back in 1975. the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction goes on display in new york today. you can see one of four versions of ed bar monk's "the scream" at the museum of modern art for six months. an anonymous collector bought the piece for $120 million last may. tonight president obama will appear on the "tonight show" with jay leno right here on your nbc station. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and more as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. hear final arguments from the left and the right as president obama and mitt romney begin their sprint to election day. and snooki is live in studio for her first post baby interview. she'll talk motherhood, wedding planning and the end of "jersey shore." and now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports, and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com